The Vitol Group confirmed today that Varo Energy Holding S.A., a joint venture between the Vitol Group and AtlasInvest, has completed the purchase of the assets of Petroplus Refining Cressier S.A. and the related Swiss marketing and logistics assets.

These assets include Petroplus Tankstorage AG, Oléoduc du Jura Neuchâtelois S.A. and Société Française du Pipeline du Jura. Varo Energy Holding S.A. plans to restart the refinery and continue refining and marketing operations in the second half of July.

About Vitol The Vitol Group was founded in 1966 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since then the company has grown significantly to become a major participant in world energy markets and is now the world’s largest independent energy trader. Its trading portfolio includes crude oil, oil products, LPG, LNG, natural gas, coal, power, metals and carbon emissions. Vitol trades with all the major national oil companies, the integrated oil majors and the independent refiners and traders. Globally Vitol trades over 5.5 million barrels of crude oil and products per day and revenues in 2011 were $297 billion.

Vitol currently owns and operates over 100,000 barrels a day of refining assets in Fujairah and Antwerp.

In addition to its trading and refining business and its 50% share in the storage and terminals business VTTI, which has 13 terminals on five continents with around 8 million cubic metres of storage, Vitol has an exploration and production business which includes interests in Ghana, Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan and a thermal coal mine in British Columbia, Canada.

About Atlas Invest AtlasInvest is a private investment group with over $1 billion of capital invested across the energy sector. AtlasInvest’s core investments are in the field of conventional oil and gas. AtlasInvest's investment portfolio is diverse in both scope and geography, encompassing all parts of the energy chain including E&P, midstream and downstream. In addition, complementary investments exist in a range of alternative energy companies. The AtlasInvest group of companies is owned and controlled by Marcel van Poecke.

To see the Cressier Refinery site